Letting It Go
The violent murder of an alleged rapist gives the squad the emotional task of questioning possible suspects. Meanwhile, Rusty begins to question his mother's motives as he catches her in a lie. The Victim *Lucas Cross The Suspects *Corporal Laura Day *Jackie Chaidez Evidence Closing the Case As Corporal Laura Day is clearly drunk during her interrogation, Sykes takes her out for coffee to sober her up. Due to Sykes' sympathy with her as a veteran herself, Day recounts the story of her rape by Lucas Cross and how he got away with it followed by her not being allowed to testify in Jackie Chaidez's rape trial. To Sykes' horror, Day confesses to murdering Lucas Cross. However, as Day hadn't been read her rights, the confession wasn't recorded and she was drunk, its inadmissible. Checking into Day's home and car, the squad finds that she lied about having a crappy apartment and car as she actually has a good apartment and car but they find no murder weapon or pepper spray and wonder why Day told the truth about the murder but not the other little things. Sykes is annoyed as Day didn't lie about her rape and had confessed because someone was finally listening. As Sykes had established a relationship with Day, Raydor has her question Day who once again confesses but refuses to give Sykes details about how she held the knife. As Assistant Chief Taylor prepares to host a press conference, Sykes reveals she believes Day was innocent: Sykes points out how Day refused to describe how she used the knife while giving many other details. Sykes also points out how Day stated that she turned up the music to cover the struggle, but had earlier told Sykes she heard Cross gurgling after she cut his throat and imitated it which she couldn't have done with the music as loud as she said it was. Raydor realizes that the only way she could've heard the death rattle was if she'd turned up the music afterwards and is thus lying about having killed Cross. The squad reviews the facts and finds that the neighbor who called the police mentioned the music on the news while DDA Lee told the press about Cross being stabbed to death which would be all that Day would need to invent her confession. Tao finds a blood glove print on the volume control for the stereo which they realize was turned up so the police would be called and a time of death would be established. Realizing the most likely suspect is Jackie Chaidez, they then look into her alibi of being at the Coral Ridge Grill at the time of the murder. While she has the parking stub and a credit card receipt for after the time of death, they check her signature on the receipt against that of her statement and find that they don't match. Searching social media, they are able to find a picture of a woman who looks very similar to Jackie at the Coral Ridge Grill the night of the murder but is not her and realize that its Jackie's younger sister Cathy. Tao and Raydor then confront Jackie with the fact that they searched Cathy's car and found blood from Lucas Cross as well as shards of glass from the wine bottle Jackie smashed over his face. Tao threatens to arrest her sister for accessory to murder for switching cars with her and providing her with an alibi. Under pressure, Jackie confesses that Cross had been stalking her again so she killed him to stop him. Tao points out its not self-defense unless there was an imminent threat to her life and spills out what he believed happened: she accepted a date with Cross and as he went to get a wine bottle, pulled out pepper spray and hit him with it. She then stabbed him in the back and slit his throat before smashing his face in with the wine bottle. Jackie admits he's right and states she was able to sleep through the night for the first time since the rape. She also confirms that Day had nothing to do with the murder nor did her sister who simply thought Jackie was treating her to dinner. However, Lee is reluctant to prosecute Jackie for the murder and reminds them that as long as they have Day's confession, they can't make a case against Jackie. Sykes later confronts Day in the bathroom, but Day refuses to recant, believing that her confession will destroy the case against Jackie. Sykes asks how Day knew about Cross' throat being cut since that wasn't in the news and Day tells her she learned to do that to take down bigger opponents in training. As Day realizes she'll never know if doing it herself would help her, she breaks down in Sykes' arms. Sykes tells Day that Cross can no longer hurt her and they can help Jackie by ensuring that she can plead guilty to a lesser charge than murder. Day agrees and pleads with Sykes to help her with her trauma from the rape which Sykes promises to do. Guest Cast Recurring Locations Episode Notes *When a suspect asks her if she knows what its like to be surrounded by horny, lonely men overseas, Sykes reveals that she was an Military Police Officer with the 101st in Bengasi and Kabul in 2008 and states she understands what the suspect meant as a result. *Sharon Beck reveals that she's known that Rusty is gay since he was little and implies that its the reason she allowed her boyfriend to abuse him and abandoned him as well as being the source of her problems. Trivia Episode Media Category:MC Season 3 Category:Episodes Category:Major Crimes